Linear delay circuit



1951 H. J. REED, JR

LINEAR DELAY CIRCUIT Filed March 4, 1946 DELAYED OUTPUT NEGATIVE TRIGGER INPUT FIG.2

INVENTOR. HARRY J. REED JR.

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 6, 1951 by mesne assignments, to the United States of America. as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Application March 4, 1946, Serial No. 651,870

This invention relates to apparatus for producing an adjustable time delay and more particularly to such apparatus which includes a linear sweep circuit and a pickofi combined in a single pentode.

I-Ieretofore a common method for producing a time delay between the occurrence of two events was to produce a sawtooth sweep voltage starting at the time of the first event and to cause the occurrence of the second event when the sawtooth sweep voltage had reached a certain prearranged value. It was customary to make the rise of the sawtooth sweep voltage as linear as possible so that a change in the prearranged pickoff voltage would produce a proportional change in the time delay. This method usually required numerous circuit elements and consid erable construction space. V

It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus for producing a time delay.

Another object of this invention is to provide I apparatus for producing a time delay of predetermined and adjustable length. It is a further object of this invention to provide apparatus for producing a time delay using a minimum of circuit elements and constructionspace.

These and other objects will become apparent upon consideration of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: I 7 I Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of this invention; and

Fig. 2 is a group of voltage wave forms found at various points in the embodiment of this invention shown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 1 is disclosed a linear sawtoothsweep circuit and a means for providing a delayed output at a prearranged time after the beginning of the sawtooth sweep. The linear sawtooth sweep circuit comprises charging capacitor I which charges toward B+ voltage through charging-resistor II and isolating resistor 12. The electronic switch for discharging charging capacitor It at the beginning of the sawtooth sweep is a blocking inner elements of pentode I9 beingrconnected as a cathode follower circuit. The output of this cathode follower circuitdeveloped-across cathode Claims. (Cl. 250-27) resistor 20 is fed back through coupling capacitor. 2I to the junction between isolating resistor I2" and charging resistor II. A potentiometer 22 is connected in series with voltage divider resistors 23 and 24 between B+ voltage and ground to provide an adjustable positive voltage for the suppressor grid of pentode I 9. The plate of'pentode I9 is connected through plate resistor 25 to 3+ voltage and the delayed output is taken ofi the plate of pentode I9 through output coupling;

capacitor 26.

The blocking grid oscillator which constitutes the electronic switch across charging capacitor IE! in the linear sawtooth sweep circuit is normally cut-ofi. The grid of triode I3 -is grounded through pulse transformer I4 while the cathode is held at a positive voltage above the cut-0T1 voltage. by the voltage divider effect of cathode biasing resistors I! and I8 between B+ voltage and ground. Thus the voltage across charging. capacitor III is normally equal to the 13+ voltage as shown in wave form B of Fig. 2. At time ii a negative trigger is applied to the plate of triode I3 through capacitor I5 as shown in wave form A of Fig. 2. The negative trigger fires the blocking grid oscillator and efiectively short circuits charging capacitor I0 momentarily so that the voltage across it is relatively low at time (.1 as shown on wave form B of Fig. 2. After firing at time t1 the blocking grid oscillator is held cut off until another negative trigger input occurs and charging capacitor I0 charges exponentially toward B+ voltage through charging resistor .II and isolating resistor I2. An exponential rise in voltage across charging capacitor It] would devicharging resistor II. In this way the voltage at each end of charging resistor II rises at approxmately the same rate during the charging of charging capacitor I0. In other words the voltage across charging resistor, II is approximatelyconstant and therefore the current through it is approximately constant. Since charging capacitor I0 is in series withjcharging resistor II,; the current through the former also approximate- 3 1y constant during its charging period. This will result in a very nearly linear rise in voltage across charging capacitor during its charging period as is evident from the following derivation. The charge on a condenser is given by the following expression:

where Q is the charge on the condenser, C is the capacitance of the condenser, and E is the voltage across the condenser. A linear voltage rise'a'cr'oss the condenser means that the derivative of E with respect to time, it must be constant. Transpos ing and differentiating Expression 1 gives where K is a constant. By definition, however, the charging current, I, is given by the following expression:

Therefore, substituting Expression 3 in Expression 1. 1 K (4) Transposing I=CK=K (5) where K is another constant. Thus with an approximately constant current through charging capacitor the voltage rise across-it will be approximately linear as shown by wave form B of Fig. 2 and the voltage rise at the cathode of pentode l9 will also be approximately linear.

For any positive voltage on the suppressor grid of pentode l9 determined by the setting of potentiometer 22 the plate current of pentode l9 will be cut 0115 prior to the negative trigger inputdrop in plate voltage as is apparent in wave form C of Fig. 2. The" cathode of pentode IS-thenbe gins its linear rise While the suppressor grid remains at a fixed positive voltage determined by the setting of potentiometer 22. At time, t2, the cathode voltage has risen above the suppressor grid voltage by an amount equal to the suppressor grid cut-off voltage of pentode [9; If pentode [9 has a sharp suppressor grid cut-ofi characteristic, the plate current will be suddenly cut off and the plate voltage will rise abruptly at time, t2, as shown in wave form C of Fig. 2. The delay occurs between the negative trigger input to the plate of triode l3 and the time of cut-off of the plate current of pentode l9. It is represented as time tr-tz in Fig. 2 and is adjustable in length by means of potentiometer 22' which determines the fixed positive voltage on the suppressor grid of pentode l9 and the time that the rising cathode voltage will overtake the suppressor grid voltage by the amount of the sup-' pressor grid cut-oif voltage. The delayed output is coupled 011 of the plate of pentode l9 by out- 4 put coupling capacitor 26. The rectangular pulse may be used directly as a gate or it may be differentiated in a resistance capacitance circuit or an inductive circuit to produce a trigger at time t2.

It is obvious that a series of negative triggers may be applied to" the plate of tri'ode i3, and a series of outputs will appear at the plate of pentode 19 each of which are delayed a fixed and predetermined amount from the corresponding input trigger depending on the setting of porenuometer 22.

The foregoing description applies to merely one of the simplest embodiments of this invention. The invention as be limited only by the appended claims.-

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for providing a variable time delay comprising, a pentode having its three inner elements connected to provide a cathode follower circuit, a circuit associated therewith for producing arising sweep voltage, said cathode follower circuit being connected back to said associated circuit for improving the linearity of positive voltage source to produce an output from said pentode delayed from the beginning of said rising sweep voltage by an amount depending on the magnitude of said adjustable positive voltage.

2. Apparatus for providing a variable timede lay comprising-a pentode having atleast a plate, a cathode and gridsand' having its three inner elements connected to provide a-cathode follower circuit, acircuit for producing a rising sweep voltage the-ouput thereofbeing joined to the input of said cathode follower circuit, the output of said cathode follower circuit-being fed back into said sweep voltage circuit to improve the linearity ofsaid rising sweep voltage-the plate of said pentode being connected through a plate resistor to a fixed positive voltage source and the suppressor grid of said pentode being connected to an adjustable positive voltagesource, said suppressor grid interrupting" current to said plate of said pentode during generation of said rising sweep voltage at a time'd'etermined by the magnitude of said adjustable positive voltage, the interruption of said plate current producing an output atsaidplate delayed from the beginning of said rising sweep voltage.

3. Apparatus for producing a-variable time delay comprising,- abootstrap linear sweep circuit including a fixed positive voltage source, a char ing condenser being permitted to charge toward said fixed positive voltage, a sharp suppressor grid cut-off pentode, said pentode having at least aplate, a cathode,-and a suppressor grid and having its three inner elements connected to form a cathode follower circuit, the rising voltage across said charging condenser being fed back through said cathode follower circuit to increase the rate of said rising voltage and thereby improve the linearity thereof, and a pickofi circuit including the plate and the suppressor grid of said pentode, said plate being connected through a plate resistor to said fixed positive voltage source, said suppressor grid being connected to an adjustable positive voltage source to determine the time of cut off of said plate current; said plate current cut off producing an output at said plate delayed from the beginning or said rising voltage by a time interval dependent upon the magnitude r of said adjustable positive voltage.

4. Apparatus for producing a variable time delay comprising, a bootstrap linear sweep circuit including a fixed positive voltage source, a charging condenser, a charging resistor, and an isolating resistor, said charging condenser being permitted to charge through said charging resistor and said isolating resistor toward said fixed positive voltage, a sharp suppressor grid cut-off pentode, said pentode having at least a plate, a cathode, and a suppressor grid and having its three inner elements connected to form a cathode :follower circuit, the rising voltage across said charging condenser being fed to the cathode grid of said cathode follower, the rising voltage at the cathode of said cathode follower being fed to the junction between said charging resistor and said isolating resistor to improve the linearity of said rising voltage across said charging condenser, and a pick-oif circuit including said pentode, the plate of said pentode being connected through a plate resistor to said fixed positive voltage source, a potentiometer also connected to said fixed voltage source, the suppressor grid of said pentode being connected to said potentiometer to provide an adjustable voltage to said suppressor grid, the adjustment of said potentiometer determinim, the time of plate current cut-off of said pentode and thereby producing an output at the plate of said pentode delayed from the beginning of said rising voltage at the cathode of said pen- 30 tode.

5. Apparatus for producing a variable time delay in the occurrence of a voltage pulse comprising, in combination, a saw-tooth wave generator and a cathode follower feedback circuit for improving the linearity of the output of said sawtooth wave generator and for generating a voltage pulse at a variable time following the occurrence of said sawtooth Waves, said cathode follower circuit including a pentode having at least a cathode, an anode, a control grid, and a suppressor grid, the output of said sawtooth wave generator being impressed upon said control grid, said cathode being connected back to said sawtooth wave generator, a voltage source, a potentiometer connected to said voltage source, a pctentiometer connected to said voltage source, said potentiometer being connected to said suppressor grid and providing an adjustable voltage thereto, output pulses being provided at said anode at a time depending upon the magnitude of said adjustable voltage.

HARRY J. REED, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,232,076 Newsam g Feb. 18, 1941 ,398,097 Kent Apr. 9, 1946 2,412,063 Rosentreter Dec. 3, 1946 2,412,064 Moe Dec. 3, 1946 

